April 4th
April 4th is the colloquial term which refers to the global events surrounding the "failed" Ark Industries experiment which took place on that date. After years of preparation, Jacqueline Faiblesse and Oliver Hamilton called a large-scale press conference at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York concerning their earth-shattering discovery in human genetics which would have worldwide repercussions. Thanks to the attendance of the world's largest press agencies, the resulting, yet unexpected, chaos was broadcast across the globe for the world to see. According to the speech that was given by Oliver Hamilton during the event: Not only have we entirely mapped out the human genome, as well as having sequenced our technology to be able to instantly decode the building blocks that make up all people. It is here that we have also developed our first application for this knowledge and technology. With it, we will be able to unlock the genetic codes of people in ways that have never before been imagined. With this, we are able to grant unique biological traits to any individual, hereby putting people in touch with themselves in such a way that has been long forgotten and lost since ancient times. With this, we at Ark Industries present to you, the future! ...it is assumed by some that the aim of the experiment was a form of genetic modification which would grant people abilities by "synthetically" unlocking the dormant portions of their DNA which controlled them. However, for reasons unknown to all except Ark themselves, the scope of the demonstration was far wider than they had anticipated and, instead of simply showing the fruits of their labour to the people situated in the conference hall, the demonstration unlocked the evolved abilities of every living "civilian" human on the planet simultaneously for just over four minutes. The involuntary devastation wrought by so many people with abilities that they couldn't control resulted in an estimated death toll of a quarter of a billion; making it the largest single atrocity with regards to casualties in human history. Background (Leading up to April 4th.) Repercussions Across the world, people who had not perivously had abilities found themselves with them for four minutes and thirty-four seconds. Unable to control their abilities, new pyrokinetics caused fires, cryokinetics caused snow and blizzards, energy manipulators caused explosions, and more, damage of every sort imaginable. For example: *A skyscraper was sliced apart and topped over in New York City, USA. *The entirety of the Vegas Strip in Nevada, USA was demolished by an earthquake. *A tusnami was spontaneously created in downtown Seoul, South Korea. *A freak tornado was spawned in Miami, Florida, USA. *A blizzard fell upon the normally desert region of Reno, Nevada, USA. *A thunderstom developed over Toronto, Canada. *There was a nuclear explosion in Sonora, Mexico, completely destroying the city. *An earthquake tore apart the town of Odessa, Ukraine. *A fire developed in Huntsville, Texas. *A flood washed away homes in Somalia. For months after these events, Specials were highlighted and studied, and soon viewed as heroes among society, as many Specials pitched in to save others and rebuild areas quickly. However, that would soon change, as the events of September 4th took hold, resulting in the registration laws that forced many Specials to register their abilities. Ark hearing In August, the United States Senate heard arguments for and against Ark Industries. After evidence on both sides was prevented, it was decided that Ark Industries was not responsible, but that April Fourth had been caused by a freak incident that happened to coincide with their experiment. They were, however, ordered to help with the remaining cleanup. Facts of interest In an unusual move, the Department of Justice chose Dakari Johessman to represent them during the Senate hearing. Category:Plots Category:Events